BT brings patent suit against Valve

UK telecommunications company British Telecom (BT) has filed a patent infringement suit against game developer Valve, claiming it has willfully infringed four patents.

Filed at the US District Court for the District of Delaware on July 28, the suit claimed BT had notified Valve of its infringing activity on a number of occasions and requested the games developer enter discussions with it.

The suit concerns US patent numbers 6,578,079; 6,334,142; 6,694,375; and 7,167,142.

It claimed that Valve’s Steam Library, Valve’s Steam Chat, Valve’s Steam Messaging, and Valve’s Steam Broadcasting infringed BT’s patents.

Valve’s distribution platform for video games, Steam, is the largest in the world. BT claimed that the platform has infringed patent 6,578,079, the Gittins patent.

The Gittins patent covers the provision of content from multiple subscription services and the delivery of it through a single portal, which is how the Steam platform works, according to the telecommunications company.

BT claimed its Newton patent, patent 6,334,142, has been infringed by Valve’s Steam Chat. The patent covers a method for delivering structured messages comprised of information and data parts.

The Beddus patent, 6,694,375, is related to providing different communication mechanism provided to users. BT has alleged that Valve’s Steam Messaging infringes on this patent.

The fourth patent, the Buckley Patent, 7,167,142, concerns a multi-user display system and method for controlling a communal display. BT claimed that Steam Broadcasting, which allows a game player to share a streaming video of their game play, has infringed this patent.

“Valve has derived and will continue to derive substantial value from these products and services which incorporate the patented technologies,” claimed the suit.

“Nonetheless, Valve has failed to respond to BT’s correspondence, at all, and chosen instead to continue to infringe the patents-in-suit willfully and wantonly.”